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Negaunee’s top two runners, Judge Anderson, left, and James Dank run through the trails at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming for the Mid-Peninsula Conference High School Cross Country Meet held Tuesday. The pair of seniors were key to the Miners winning the boys team title. (Photo courtesy of Shay Korpi)
Running at the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, the Negaunee boys beat Gladstone senior scorer Drew Hughes to score 28 points compared to 35 for the Braves.
Manistique was a distant third with 73 points, while Westwood totaled 100. Ishpeming and Gwinn also had runners, but not enough of them for a team score.
This was an unusual meet as it was held after the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals, as that meet was originally scheduled for October 17 before an early-season snowstorm forced its postponement.
Hughes won the boys race by nearly a minute, covering what has traditionally been one of the toughest high school courses in the Upper Peninsula, in 17 minutes, 16.7 seconds.
Led by eventual race winner Lola Korpi of Ishpeming, front left, girls take off from the starting line during the Mid-Peninsula Conference High School Cross Country Meet on Tuesday. Korpi won by nearly 45 seconds as Negaunee captured the team title. (Photo courtesy of Shay Korpi)
A pair of Negaunee seniors came in at second place and third place to make sure the Miners stayed competitive.
Judge Anderson finished second in 18:11.7, while teammate James Dank was next in 18:19.0.
Gladstone continued to have an edge inside the rest of the top 10, too, as junior Tanner Howes was fourth in 18:30.3 and sophomore Aaron Hughes fifth in 18:49.1.
Negaunee fought back with freshman Simon Jaklin coming in sixth in 19:06.3.
At that point, however, the Braves held a one-point edge that the Miners would have to make up with their fourth and fifth runners.
Ishpeming’s Lola Korpi runs on her own as she extends her lead at a race earlier this fall season during a high school cross country meet. (Photo courtesy of Shay Korpi)
And they did, as NHS senior John Plaxco was right behind Jaklin in seventh in 19:20.7, while the Miners’ final scoring runner was sophomore Michael Slawinski, who was 12th in 20:33.1.
For team scoring purposes, Slawinski counted as 10th place because two runners ahead of him were not on teams winning in the meet.
Meanwhile, Gladstone’s final two runners came in 15th and 16th (12th and 13th in scoring) — freshman Tyler Soderman in 21:25.5 and senior Alex Eilola in 21:32.1.
Manistique’s top finisher was senior Grant Mason, who was eighth in 19:28.8, while sophomore teammate Ben Gilroy was 11th in 20:14.4.
Ishpeming had one finisher in the top 20 while Gwinn had two. They were Hematites sophomore Levi Nicholls, ninth in 19:41.9, along with Modeltowners sophomore Thomas Jenkins, 10th in 19:43.7, and junior Matthew Jenkins, 13th in 20:39.7.
Westwood’s top finisher was junior Patrick Klumpp, 14th in 20:58.2.
The girls race was quite academic as Negaunee was the only school to field a full team; in fact, the Miners had a full contingent of runners.
Manistique and Gladstone came close, fielding four finishers when five are required for a team score.
Winning the race, however, was Ishpeming junior Lola Korpi, who beat the field by nearly 45 seconds in 20:57.9.
Negaunee was led by senior runner-up Endla Harris, who finished in 21:40.0, and the better part of a minute ahead of the rest of the pack.
The rest of the Miners’ top five scorers were junior Seere Helms-Gleason, sixth in 25:09.5; junior Emilia Hanninen, ninth in 25:39.7; junior Amara Rasmussen, 10th in 25:48.9; and sophomore Cheyanne Larson, 16th in 27:35.4.
Manistique freshman Maya Carlson was third in 22:33.9, just two-tenths of a second ahead of Ishpeming sophomore Layne Korpi in 23:34.1.
Manistique sophomore Calista Watchhorn was seventh in 25:16.8, while Westwood sophomore Lexi Thibeault came in 12th in 25:51.6.
Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.
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